Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 429 The Imperial Machine, in Full Swing!
Queen An suddenly jerked her head, knocking Quan Nanchan aside, and a tuft of her hair was pulled out as a result.

Ignoring the pain, she rushed over and stood in front of Gao Baozang, facing the god of death, Quan Nanjian.

Quan Nanjian extended his long sword and pressed it against her chest, sneering, "You want to die first?"

Queen An showed no fear as she stared at him and said sternly, "If the King does not die, you will have a chance to survive if you surrender when you are besieged by the Tang army! If the King dies, none of you will have a way out and you will surely die at the hands of the Tang army!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly rushed forward.

With a "whoosh," the longsword pierced through her chest.

Despite the excruciating pain, she walked step by step to Quan Nanjian, spat a mouthful of blood on his face, and cursed, "You traitorous scoundrel, I'll be waiting for you down there!"

Quan Nanjian was both surprised and furious. Just now, when Queen An walked towards him, he was intimidated by her aura and subconsciously took a step back. Now, he was both embarrassed and angry.

"You vile woman, die!" He drew his longsword and chopped off Queen An's head with a single stroke.

"Your Majesty!" Gao Baozang cried out in a trembling voice, both shocked and frightened.

Still seething with rage, Izumi wiped the blood from his face, gripped his long sword, and walked step by step toward Gao Baozang, like the Grim Reaper.

Quan Nan was terrified by his younger brother. He never imagined that his usually quiet and reserved brother could be so vicious.

In him, one could almost see the shadow of his father.

Xincheng is preoccupied with figuring out how to turn things around and has no time to deal with these issues.

Seeing that Gao Baozang was about to die under Quan Nanjian's sword, a hand was placed on Quan Nanjian's arm.

"Second brother, let's spare his life for now; he might be useful later!" It was Izumi Nansan who stopped him.

Quan Nanjian glanced at him, knowing that Quan Nanchan had been swayed by Queen An's last words and therefore wanted to leave himself an escape route.

He needed Quan Nansan's support to seize Quan Nansan's position as the head of the Moli branch, so he gave him face and did not kill Gao Baozang again.

Soon, Izumi Ken turned his gaze to Izumi Nam-sang.

Quan Nansheng felt a surge of fear and stammered, "Second...Second Brother, what do you want to do?"

Quan Nanjian didn't speak, and his gaze turned to Xincheng.

He has already recaptured Euljijin, but Shinseong still controls 30,000 troops in the military camp outside the city, and he hopes to gain Shinseong's loyalty.

Xin Cheng stared at him for a moment, then looked at Quan Nansheng and said, "Mo Lizhi, I believe that Gao Baozang's treason should be publicized throughout the country immediately!"

Quan Nansheng hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, that's how it should be done!"

Xincheng continued, "The people of the whole country will surely be very uneasy after learning about this, so please do not leave the country to tour the country and appease the people!"

Upon hearing this, the three Quan brothers were stunned.

If Xin Cheng tells Quan Nansheng to leave Pyongyang now, Quan Nansheng will definitely establish himself as Molizhi.

This is tantamount to asking Quan Nansheng to voluntarily give up his position as Mo Lizhi in order to save his life!

Quan Nansheng stared blankly at Xincheng, and after a long silence, he realized that this was his only way to survive. He said in a low voice, "Okay, I... am willing to go on the tour."

Quan Nanjian remained silent, only staring coldly at Xincheng.

Xin Cheng met his gaze calmly and said, "Second Young Master, you can kill the emperor because most of the court officials were left behind by the old Molizhi. But if you kill your brother, they may not still support you!"

Izumi Kenjiro smiled coldly and said, "I can do what my father did, kill them all, and replace them with a new batch of ministers!"

Xin Cheng said, "This is a good method, but it took Old Mo Lizhi a year to kill all the officials and restore stability to the country. How long will it take you?"

Quan Nanjian sneered, "Do you think I'm necessarily inferior to my father?"

Xin Cheng asked, "Even if you have a way to stabilize the situation, how do you plan to deal with the 30,000 troops outside the city?"

Izumi raised an eyebrow and said, "If I kill you, I'll just send another commander. But I admire you, so I'd like to give you a choice!"

Xin Cheng gazed at him and said, "You do indeed resemble Old Molizhi more, and I can pledge my loyalty to you. However, I am entrusted by Old Molizhi, so I must protect the young master's life!"

Quan Nanjian's expression shifted, clearly indicating that he was hesitating.

Xin Cheng said, "The officers among the 30,000 garrison troops outside the city are all my trusted confidants whom I personally promoted. I can guarantee that if I die, they will definitely mutini!"

With a clang, Izumi Ken sheathed his sword and said to Izumi Namyo, "Brother, you shall go on patrol tomorrow!"

Quan Nan's face was pale, his lips trembled slightly, and he finally nodded.

……

Zheng Rentai was the first to arrive at the Shenlong Temple.

When the others arrived at the Divine Dragon Palace one after another, Zheng Rentai was filled with ecstasy.

The order of generals who came after him was: Yuchi Gong, Cheng Zhijie, Qibi Heli, Gao Kan, Xue Rengui, and Li Ji!
Judging from the identities of these six people, this meeting must be related to the attack on Goguryeo, and the people who participated in the meeting are very likely the commanders of this expedition!
Regarding the expedition against Goguryeo, Jeong In-tae originally thought he had no hope.

Since the new emperor ascended the throne, he has never been given important responsibilities, and he has not been involved in several major battles!

The emperor actually sent him to fight in this campaign against Goguryeo. While he was secretly pleased, he couldn't help but feel grateful to Xiao Siye.

After the Khitan were defeated, the ministers, led by Li Ji, proposed to immediately attack Goguryeo.

Almost the entire court of civil and military officials overwhelmingly supported the attack on Goguryeo.

Zheng Rentai was originally supportive, but Xiao Siye secretly told him that the emperor did not want to send troops immediately.

In order to gain the emperor's favor, Zheng Rentai stood on the opposite side of the court officials and was almost beaten by Yuchi Gong.

Looking back now, without his strong support at the time, how could the emperor possibly still remember him among so many military generals in the court?

It's a pity that Xiao Siye is already dead, otherwise he would definitely have petitioned the emperor to transfer Xiao Siye into his army as a deputy general, and give him a chance to make meritorious contributions.

The others also looked at Zheng Rentai with surprise, especially Yuchi Gong, whose expression was very unfriendly, as if he felt that Zheng Rentai was not worthy of sitting there.

A moment later, the sound of greetings came from outside, and Li Zhi strode in. Several people stood up in unison and paid their respects to the emperor.

Li Zhi walked over and sat down at the head of the table, gesturing with his hand. He said, “My lords, there’s no need for such formalities. News has just arrived from Yingzhou that Quan Nanjian, the second son of Quan Gaesomun, has expelled Quan Nansheng from Pyongyang and proclaimed himself Molizhi. Now is the time to send troops to Goguryeo!”

Upon hearing this, all the generals showed expressions of surprise and delight.

Li Ji sighed inwardly, "His Majesty predicted it again."

Li Zhi slowly said, "I'm sure you've already heard Li Qing explain the battle plan for attacking Goguryeo, so I won't repeat it. Now, I'll announce the selection of the Eighth Route Army!"

Upon hearing this, all seven stood up, their faces showing a hint of nervousness.

Li Zhi looked at Li Ji and said, "Minister Li, I hereby appoint you as the Grand Commander of the Liaodong Army and concurrently the Grand Commander of the Liaodong Waterway Army, responsible for leading the eight armies to advance by land and water, attacking from both the north and south to jointly defeat Goguryeo!"

A glint flashed in Li Ji's eyes, and he said, word by word, "This old minister obeys the decree!"

Li Zhi then said, "Xue Rengui, listen to my decree!"

"Chen is here!"

Li Zhi said, "I hereby appoint you as the Deputy Grand Commander of the Liaodong Road Army and concurrently the Grand Commander of the Pingliao Road Army!"

"I accept the decree!"

The titles of the Tang Dynasty's military commanders and grand commanders were all derived from the names of the battle locations.

As can be seen from their names, both Li Ji's and Xue Rengui's armies were part of the four northern armies that set out from Yingzhou.

Li Zhi then successively conferred titles upon Cheng Zhijie, Yuchi Gong, Qibi Heli, Zheng Rentai, and Gao Kan.

Qibi Heli was the commander-in-chief of the Sumu Road Army, and Zheng Rentai was the commander-in-chief of the Jian'an Road Army. The two of them led the other two armies of the Northern Four Routes.

Cheng Zhijie and Yuchi Gong were both appointed as commanders of the Southern Three Routes.

Cheng Zhijie was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Mahu Road Army, and Yuchi Gong was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Muyue Road Army. In addition, Jiang Ke was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the last army of the Southern Three Routes and Commander-in-Chief of the Hanshui Road Army.

Gao Kan was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Beisha Road Army, and was the only naval commander.

After Li Zhi finished his announcement, he said, "You may all go and make preparations. The selection of the deputy chief eunuch and the generals can be discussed, and the lists can be brought to me later. The official edict of investiture will be issued in a few days!"

Li Zhi had already put in a lot of effort to come up with the name of the Eighth Route Army commander, so he naturally didn't want to rack his brains to think of the list of generals below him.

After receiving the imperial decree, the group left the Divine Dragon Palace and went to the Left Guard Office for a meeting to discuss the selection of their subordinate generals.

According to Tang military tradition, deputy generals were recommended by their commanders, which allowed the commanders to fight more effectively.

Of course, if one uses this to practice nepotism and suffers a defeat, the punishment will be even more severe.

So after discussing with his generals for a few minutes, Li Ji told them to select the most capable people themselves and let him know when the time came. He would then compile a list and submit it to the emperor for approval.

After the meeting, the generals left the room and gathered in twos and threes to discuss which young generals were capable of being given important responsibilities.

Gao Kan quickly caught up with Xue Rengui and walked alongside him, asking, "Brother Xue, who do you plan to choose as your deputy general?"

Xue Rengui said, "I'm still considering it."

Gao Kan gave a wry smile and said, "You're all taking the land route, but I'm taking the water route. It's really not easy to choose a deputy general!"

He missed the war to attack Japan because he was previously transferred to deal with the Eastern Turks.

He was chosen by the emperor to attack Goguryeo and was eager to show his skills, but he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the navy, which was a blow to him!

Xue Rengui glanced at him and said, "Brother Gao, in my opinion, your journey is actually the most important."

Gao Kan's eyes lit up, and he asked, "What do you mean?"

Xue Rengui asked, "Do you know why we failed to conquer Goguryeo in the war against it back then?"

Gao Kan shook his head.

Xue Rengui slowly said, "Because the army was too cautious and advanced too slowly, especially outside Anshi City, it was delayed for more than two months. The food supply was insufficient, so we had to retreat."

Gao Kan felt a chill run down his spine and said, "I've heard about it too."

The main reason for the slow progress was that Li Shimin personally led the expedition, and the generals were worried about the emperor's safety, so they were unwilling to take any risks.

Xue Rengui continued, "Anshi City is a steep mountain city, backed by mountains, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. This attack on Goguryeo will still be a difficult problem for our army."

"Your troops have the advantage of waterways. As long as the advance goes smoothly, you can bypass Ansi City, cross the Yalu River, and take Pyongyang directly!"

Gao Kan's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "Thank you for your guidance, Brother Xue. However, I am unsure about the choice of this deputy general. I would appreciate your advice, Brother Xue."

Xue Rengui thought for a moment and said, "Since you are leading the Laizhou Navy, it would be best to select a local Laizhou general as the deputy commander-in-chief. This way, you can take control of the army as soon as possible!"

Gao Kan said, "I have heard that Sun Renshi, the governor of Laizhou, is a fierce general. I wonder if the rumors are true?"

Xue Rengui said, "This person is trustworthy."

When the Imperial Guards he led fought against the Japanese, they had dealings with Sun Renshi, and he had some understanding of Sun Renshi from the letters written by those generals.

Gao Kan had actually heard of Sun Renshi's reputation, but this battle was too important, so he consulted Xue Rengui. Seeing his opinion, he had no more doubts.

After leaving the Left Guard headquarters, the generals went their separate ways to return to their own headquarters to prepare for the war.

However, Xue Rengui did not go to the Forbidden Garden, but instead went out of the Vermilion Bird Gate and headed towards the Dali Temple.

A few days later, Li Zhi received the list of soldiers to be sent to the expedition from Li Ji.

The candidates for deputy generals of each army have all been selected.

This list reveals that, apart from Su Dingfang, Pei Xingjian, and others, this expedition boasts the most impressive lineup of generals in the Tang Dynasty.

Even a veteran like Cheng Mingzhen, the former governor of Yingzhou, could only serve as a deputy commander of the army.

Besides veterans, the list also includes many young generals, such as Wei Daijia, who was selected by Zheng Rentai as deputy commander.

Li Ji's choice of deputy chief steward was even more surprising; he actually selected Zhao Chiman, who, compared to the other deputy chief stewards, was the lowest in rank.

However, Zhao Chiman was on par with Jiang Ke, and thanks to Jiang Ke's outstanding performance in Liaodong over the years, Zhao Chiman's reputation was also boosted.

Moreover, Zhao Chiman had served as an envoy to Japan and possessed exceptional courage, making him a worthy candidate for employment.

Hei Chi Changzhi also became a deputy chief steward. Li Zhi originally thought he would be Jiang Ke's deputy chief steward, but for some reason, he became Cheng Zhijie's deputy chief steward.

Li Zhi didn't quite understand what had happened behind the scenes.

However, one thing is certain: as one of the three commanders of the Southern Three Armies, whoever chooses Hei Chi Changzhi as their deputy will have an advantage.

In Li Zhi's memory, Cheng Zhijie was indeed a person who was very good at taking advantage of others. Jiang Ke was in Baekje and had no chance to speak up, so it can only be said that he was unlucky.

Jiang Ke's deputy was Pan Long, who was also a fierce general under Liu Rengui, so it wasn't a bad choice.

The person who surprised Li Zhi the most about Yuchi Gong's deputy was a man named Li Jinxing.

Li Zhi knew this person's name; he served as the Left Guard General. However, he did not know any details about him.

When they ordered someone to bring Li Jinxing's file over, they discovered that this man was no ordinary person. His father, Tudiqi, was a leader of the Mohe tribe who led his people to surrender to the Sui Dynasty and later to the Tang Dynasty.

In other words, Li Jinxing was a Tang dynasty person of Mohe descent, and his original tribe was a mortal enemy of Goguryeo.

Given Li Jinxing's background, he must have been very knowledgeable about Goguryeo. Yuchi Gong's choice of him as his deputy clearly had this in mind.

When Li Zhi saw Xue Rengui's deputy chief steward, he couldn't help but laugh. Xue Rengui's chosen deputy was actually Li Yuanfang.

This Li Yuanfang was merely someone Li Zhi chose on a whim to follow and protect Di Renjie.

Since Xue Rengui chose him as his deputy, it means that he does have certain abilities, so giving him a stage is not a bad idea.

Gao Kan chose Sun Renshi as his deputy commander, who was arguably the most normal among all the generals.

In this way, the final roster for the expedition was determined.

Grand Commander: Li Ji.

Deputy Commander-in-Chief: Xue Rengui.

Commander-in-Chief (Deputy Commander-in-Chief): Li Ji (Zhao Chiman), Xue Rengui (Li Yuanfang), Qibi Heli (Cheng Mingzhen), Zheng Rentai (Wei Daijia), Gao Kan (Sun Renshi), Cheng Zhijie (Heichi Changzhi), Yuchi Gong (Li Jinxing), Jiang Ke (Pan Long).

With a stroke of his pen, Emperor Gaozong approved the list of soldiers to be sent to the expedition submitted by Li Ji, and also issued several imperial edicts.

First, Liu Rengui was appointed as the Hebei Supply Commissioner, responsible for the allocation of grain and fodder in various prefectures of Hebei.

Over the years, Hebei has consistently adopted a policy of light taxes in preparation for the war against Goguryeo. Now, about ten years have passed, and even if provisions are requisitioned, the people of Hebei should be able to bear the burden.

In addition, Li Yifu was appointed as the Henan Supply Commissioner and sent to Laizhou to be responsible for transporting grain from various prefectures in Henan to the sea, providing provisions for the armies of Gao Kan and the three Baekje routes.

Prince Li Zhong of Chen was appointed as the deputy envoy to assist Li Yifu.

Gao Funan was appointed Right Guard General and Pacification Ambassador of Pyongyang Province, and was sent to accompany the army on the expedition.

After the imperial decree was issued, civil and military officials performed their respective duties.

Military generals led the Imperial Guards to the front lines. Civil officials managed logistics, and officials from every department—the Three Provinces, the Six Ministries, the Nine Ministers, and the Five Directorates—received orders to fully assist in the battle.

The Inner Commandery also dispatched a large number of spies to Ying and Lai prefectures, as well as the Xiongjin Governor's Office, to gather intelligence.

The military machine of the Tang Empire is now running at full capacity.

A total of 150,000 infantry and cavalrymen continuously gathered in the three regions of Ying, Lai, and Xiong.

A great battle is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)